There's Something About Mary

Star Rating: *** (and a half)

MPAA Rating: R

Note: If you're easily offended There's Something About Mary should not be your first pick for movies.  I'd also steer away from bringing young children to this movie because of it's strong language and comic sexual scenes.

Cameron Diaz....Mary

Matt Dillon....Pat

Ben Stiller...Ted

Chris Elliott...Dom

Lee Evans...Tucker

Lin Shayne...Magda

It's been a long time since I've laughed so hard I cried at a movie.  I not only did this once at this movie but at least three or four times.  The first twenty minutes when Ted is in high school alone is worth the admission price.

There's a Mary in every school.  Smart, beautiful, popular, athletic, and kind, Mary is just the kind of girl every guy dreams about in high school.  Somehow Ted, a geek-type with braces and funky hair cut gets Mary's attention and she asks him to the senior prom.  It's every guys dream until Mary's mentally-challenged brother, Warner beats Ted up.  If that's not bad enough poor Ted gets his male anatomy stuck in his zipper and has to have Mary's parents along with a policeman and fireman help him zip up.  Ted is so mortified after this experience that he never sees Mary again after she moves to Florida with her family.

Flash to the present.  Ted admits to his friend and psychiatrist how much he misses Mary so he enlists in the help of a gumshoe detective named Pat Healy, played hysterically by Matt Dillon, to find Mary.  It doesn't take Pat much spying to discover he's as infatuated with Mary as Ted is.   So Pat tells Ted he's moving to Florida and that Mary now weighs 250 pounds, has 4 children, and is confined to a wheelchair.  Pat has a little spin with Mary but then his plans are thwarted by a pizza boy pretending to be an architect.  Then Ted decides to seek out Mary after all and Mary finds herself in a dilemma when five different guys including a Green Bay Packer are vying for her attention.

All in all Mary is hysterical, but sick minded comedy.  Cameron Diaz is charming, Matt Dillon's never been so funny, and Ben Stiller a likable character with a good dose of bad luck.  Between Ted getting caught in his zipper, a dog on speed, Matt Dillon with huge teeth, a psycho path hitchhiker, and a new kind of hair gel Mary barely gives you a chance to stop laughing and breath.  As I mentioned before if you are easily offended or under twelve this movie probably isn't for you but for the rest of us There's Something About Mary is an outrageous laugh-out-loud comedy you won't want to miss. 

PS: Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz should win an award for best hair.  Ben during high school and Cameron after the "hair gel" incident.

Other Movies With Cameron Diaz:

My Best Friend's Wedding

Other Movies With Matt Dillon:

In and Out

Little Darlings

The Outsiders